218 Tasting Notes

This Jade oolong is my afternoon tea today. Very vegetal, almost grassy with a hint of citrus. It leaves very clear and cool aftertaste, almost in a way that mint does, which also makes it very refreshing. It’s kind of hot out there today, so this works great, even though it’s warm. I bet it would also work great iced but as it is now I am trying to “get rid of” teas I care less about by cold brewing them for work. This tea I definitely care more about, so… it stays as a refreshing but hot drink!

The reason I don’t rate it higher is because I consider jade oolongs to be a little too… unsophisticated in general, although this one is definitely the most sophisticated of the ones I’ve tried. Good stuff!

Preparation

I must say, while this is definitely a delicious black tea with the aroma of honey, it is a little bit too ‘dark’ for my tastes. By ‘dark’ I probably mean bold, but also slightly bitter and tannic-y? I wish I knew what I mean most of the time.

Anyway, there’s just something about this tea that doesn’t sit well with me. I think what happened is that I actually brewed it wrong, overleafed or oversteeped. I am not sure. I think I will try to resteep the leaves for a rather short time and see what comes out of it.

EDIT: Okay, so I let the re-steep brew for 2 minutes. Now the tea came out a little on the bland side but it doesn’t have these bitter elements in it that I didn’t enjoy. I think I will have to brew it at a slightly colder temp next time for a shorter time with less leaf. I am not rating it yet either.

It seems like Lupicia is kind of a hit or miss for me (although the misses are never truly bad and the hits are usually SUPER hits) but this one I am definitely enjoying. I am not sure if this is better than Nina’s Marie Antoinette or not… I wish I had more of MA in order to compare but the little sample I had I drank ages ago.

So, yeah, I guess Tsugaru is not just any apple but a special Japanese apple, probably slightly tarter than an ol’ granny smith (or maybe not, the google search came up with the information that it is “a cross between a Gold Delicious and Orange Pippin”). But I really don’t know. All I can say is that the tea is damn refreshing, tasty and smells super appley. I mean, really, it is an apple-crazy tea. It might not be an instant re-stock when I am out of it, but I will definitely want to have it on hand from time to time.

This babe I am always very happy to sip on! I wish I had ordered more of it because I seem to be running low right now. And I just placed a huge Butiki order, too… Let’s hope this is available for the Black Friday craze.

Amazingly sweet and rich, with notes of bread and honey. I am enjoying my every sip and I am ready for a re-steep! I am also upping my rating from 91 to 96.

Aaah, it’s good to be on Steepster again. And this tea is, as always, marvellous.

I hope to be here more often now that the autumn is approaching. I haven’t been buying a whole lot of new teas recently but I am planning a few bigger orders in the near future. It’s good to read your posts and tasting notes, guys! I’m so glad this community exists.

(And I hope Stacy won’t mind I hi-jacked one of her tea’s pages to write a mostly personal post ;))

So good! This oolong is more on the grassy side with some minor flowery notes. The mouthfeel is not exactly creamy although it might get there with the next steep. Very refreshing and “green-tasting”, perfect to sip on on a rather warm afternoon here in PA. I am ready to make another infusion!

This Assam is not as malty as I expected it would be (because the dry leaf looked so cunningly Chinese golden tips like), at least not upfront. And I think I would be quick to designate it to the space of “Assams that don’t really do it for me” except this aftertaste… The aftertaste is doing this whole tea for me! So imagine this, upfront you are getting a slightly astringent, basic and ascetic kind of assam notes and then from the background emerges this creamy kick of sweetness that lingers on your tongue like a caramel candy. It’s such an amazing trick you want to pause whatever you are doing for every sip of this tea that you take. I am totally getting an ounce of this next time I shop at Butiki!

So… There’s a bit of a mess-up and the description for this darjeeling says the flush is from 2012. The one I have is from 2014 but there wasn’t any separate page for it, so here I am.

I am finally getting to try the famous Margaret’s Hope darjeeling! Even though I generally prefer second fluhes, this one is really superb. Fairly malty, mostly sweet with pleasant astringent undertones. It is also kind of earthy and woodsy. Kind of like a forest after the rain – if you could eat the aroma that it gives off, this is how it would taste like. I am digging it!

I also love the first flush darjeeling dry leaf, the green and straw yellow of it with glimpses of darker brown. It’s beautiful.

I am really happy that I could try it!

Preparation

I absolutely adore the look of these pearls, but I adore the look of any tea pearls it seems :D Unfortunately, the flavor is not as exciting as the looks of the dry leaf, although it is not by any means a bad tea. I notice an interesting note of buttery sweetness. Something I rather like in green teas. It is slightly too weak, however, and sinks quickly in the overall correct but sensationally uneventful (?) green tea taste. I would definitely be happy to accept a cup of this when offered but probably wouldn’t need to stock it in my cupboard.

It was really nice to try it, though. Thank you, whoever placed it in the Box (Nicole?) :D

This is such a delicious tea! From the aroma, that seemed more on the fruity side, I expected a fruitier and tarter assam but this is more like the malty one that I love. I find some chocolate notes, too. It has a very creamy and silky mouthfeel. And now that it cooled down, the aroma actually corresponds with the taste much more…

I am off to make another steep! Thanks, Sil, for including this one. This is my first Taiwan Tea Crafts tea ever :D

They are definitely my thing and for a while now I have had TTC on my list of “companies I need to order from and somehow haven’t yet” :D I am glad I could try something from them through the Traveling Box.

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ME & TEA

I started drinking tea when I was a teenager, my dad used to make tea a million times a day as it was (and still is!) good for his health. So he would make it for the entire family. Usually it was Lipton with a teaspoon of sugar per cup and a slice of lemon. I was fond of it made this way then a lot.

Then I would have occasional loose leaf teas, I slowly got into green tea… I would mostly stick to bagged tea though. It was just convenient.

Only recently, in the middle of 2013, did I start getting seriously into all kinds of loose leaf tea.

My cupboard only reflects what I have in ‘regular’ (non-sample) sizes. It could be that I have some tea you’re looking for, just in a smaller amount, even though it is not in my cupboard, so you can always just ask when swapping with me :)